University of Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier said he plans to ask the Board of Regents for a revised pay scale for the head football coaching position in advance of negotiating a new contract with June Jones.

Jones has 11 1/2 months to go on a contract that pays $800,016 annually— half of which the school said is underwritten by donors.

Frazier said he didn't know if the new salary range would exceed $1 million, but said he would offer Jones a contract of a "minimum five years."

"We are working with the university (administration) on some things within the salary ranges and that needs to be determined first," Frazier added. He said he didn't know when it would go to the regents.

Jones said: "I don't have any comment on that stuff. When the time's right, something will happen."

Jones' agent, Leigh Steinberg, could not be reached for comment.

Under the terms of his current contract, Jones will be the third-highest-paid coach in the nine-member Western Athletic Conference this season behind Fresno State's Pat Hill and Boise State's Chris Petersen.

Hill made $999,236 in 2006 and Petersen is contracted to make $850,000 in 2007, according to published reports. Both also can qualify for bonuses.

USA Today reported the average salary for head football coaches at "the NCAA's top-level schools" was $950,000 in 2006, not including benefits, incentives and subsidized housing. That was before Alabama made former Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban college football's most richly paid with an eight-year, $32 million deal.

Could UH afford to pay Jones $1 million?

"I don't know. I don't know what the number is," Frazier said. "That's what we have to figure out. It is nice to know where you can go before you finish negotiating. We'll see where they (the regents) want to go."

Frazier added, "We don't want to be hamstrung (in negotiations), so we'll go do the ranges like we did with basketball."

The current salary range was not immediately available, according to a UH spokeswoman.

In March, Frazier won board approval to more than double the salary range of the head men's basketball coach to $400,000 and has secured significant raises for the assistants.

Jones, who became UH's winningest coach against an all-college schedule, is coming off an 11-3 season that matched the school's most victories. The Warriors were ranked 24th in the final USA Today poll.

Frazier said it hasn't yet been decided whether Jones' next contract will be partially underwritten by contributions or funded in full by the department. "It all depends upon where we end up," Frazier said.

Frazier said he does not have a figure in mind for the new salary range. "We're still talking about that, exploring that portion of it right now with administrative staff." He said WAC and national salary averages would be used to help come up with figures.

Frazier said he also hoped to send pay ranges for several other sports to the regents.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com and Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.